


Sora's Tail

by InsomniacTiger



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Atlantica (Kingdom Hearts), Best Friends, Falling In Love, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Love Confessions, M/M, Mer-people, Riku Loves Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Sora Is a Ray of Sunshine (Kingdom Hearts), Sora Loves Riku (Kingdom Hearts)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:34:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27768361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsomniacTiger/pseuds/InsomniacTiger
Summary: After a trip to Atlantica Sora can't get rid of his fins. Being the best friend that he is, Riku helps him try to find a way to get his legs back, but in the end he may get more than he had dared to hope for.
Relationships: Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Kudos: 60





	Sora's Tail

**Author's Note:**

> I just sat down and wrote this because I needed some SoRiku in my life. These two make me happy. So hope you enjoy a bit of fluff and shenanigans. Also Sora and Riku playfully bickering. Because I live for that.

“Wow Riku! You’re a fast learner!” Flounder exclaimed as he flitted past the silver-haired teen.

“Its not that different then swimming butterfly back home.” He shrugged modestly.

“Sora struggled for quite a while.” Ariel giggled.

“I’m not totally sure da kid has learned anything.” Sebastian muttered clinging to Flounder’s tail.

“HEY!” Sora puffed his cheeks. “I have too learned how to swim!”

“Back home he only swam breast stroke.” Riku smirked.

“He did what?” Ariel asked looking a bit suspicious.

“That’s the one where you swim like a frog!” Sora protested demonstrating the bit he could with his hands.

“Oh.” The red-haired mermaid nodded with a smile. “That’s the one guppies use.”

“ _Guppies_?” Sora mouthed.

“ _Baby fishes_.” Riku mouthed back.

And there was the brunette’s puffed up cheeks again.

“You look more like a puffer fish than a guppy though.” Flounder laughed.

“Ok… it’s time to go home.”

“Sure. Lets go.”

“Wait… I don’t wanna.”

“Sora.”

“Fiiine.”

* * *

Back aboard the Gummi Ship Riku hurried to where they had left the towels. With all the magic they possessed and they still couldn’t figure out a way to dry their hair after a visit to Atlantica.

“I’m sure there is a combination of aero and fire we can use to figure this out.” He called back looking for the towels.

“Yeah… probably…” Sora sounded distracted.

“Of course, burning our scalps would be more likely with that, so maybe just aero?”

“Maybe.”

“Where did you leave those towels?”

“I thought they were on my cot.”

“Oh. Got them.”

Walking back into the mudroom, Riku was using one hand to dry his hair, and tossed the other towel toward where Sora was still sitting on the floor.

“Sora, get – what are you doing?”

“Riku. I think something is wrong…”

The brunette was sitting on the floor, staring wide-eyed at where his legs should be. He _still_ had his tail from Atlantica.

“Why didn’t you change back?”

“I’m trying! It isn’t working!”

“I thought that the fairies made your clothes so that they are supposed to change with you.”

“They did! Also Donald gave me a spell just in case. Neither are working.”

“Maybe,” Riku mused wrapping his towel around his shoulders to keep the water dripping from his hair onto his clothes. “We are still too close to Atlantica? I’m going to pilot us toward Radiant Garden. That should work.”

Sora nodded, the confident tone in Riku’s voice reassuring. This was annoying sure, but at least it wasn’t the opposite. If he had been stuck in Atlantica and unable to change into this form he would drown. So this wasn’t so bad.

Not really.

* * *

It sucked.

A lot.

“Riiiku. Fix it.” The brunette whined in his arms.

The older teen was carrying his best friend bridal style, considering there really wasn’t any other way to transport a merman. Not in Radiant Garden anyway. Riku had debated finding a cart or something, but with Sora as vulnerable as he was right now it was hard to convince himself to set him down. The Heartless hadn't been in this part of the world in a long time now, but he was still hesitant. Easier to reassure himself that he was safe this way.

“I _tried_ Sora. But my magic didn’t do anything either. Just stop squirming!”

“I can’t help it! My dorsal fin…” He trailed off.

“What?” Riku frowned down at him.

“It… it itches.”

“Deal with it.”

“C’mon Riiiku!”

“Nope.”

“Meanie.”

“Hello?” Riku ignored his whining to shoulder open the door to Merlin’s house. “Merlin? We have a bit of a problem here.” He called out but the wizard was nowhere to be seen.

Being careful not to drop him, Riku set his friend down on the steps inside. “Do you want to wait around for a bit?”

“I guess…” His tail began flicking back and forth anxiously forcing Riku to take a few steps back. “How long do you think it could be?”

“Nobody knows.” Yuffie seemed to appear in their line of vision, once again showing off her ninja skills. “So the rumor around town that Riku has a mermaid wasn’t totally crazy. Trying a new look Sora?” She grinned.

“I’m not a mer _maid_.” Sora crossed his arms with a huge pout. “And I don’t want to stay like this! That’s why we need Merlin!”

“Yeeeeeah. Well, he said he was going on one of his time traveling journeys. He could be back in five seconds or five years for all we know.”

There was a long silence as the boys contemplated what to do next.

“Where do you think I can buy a large fish tank?” Riku looked over at the young ninja.

“RIKU!” Sora protested.

“I could ask Squall if he could build one!” She giggled.

“No! Please don’t!”

“Ah. I bet I could build one too.” He turned back toward him. “Do you want it on the island or at the tower?”

“Please don’t put me in a fish tank.” Sora groaned.

“Are you two bullying Sora?” Aerith appeared in the doorway.

Turning, they saw that Tifa and Leon were standing next to her.

“Why is he a fish?” Tifa asked curiously.

Sora peeked a glance at the taller brunette who was usually brooding in the background. Leon was _smirking_ and it seemed intentional the way he wasn’t meeting Sora’s eyes.

“Magic gone wrong.” Riku summarized. “But if Merlin isn’t here our next best guess would be… Donald?”

He didn’t say it, but he knew they would both rather avoid bringing Master Yensid into this if they could.

“Yeah. Let’s go find that him.” Sora sighed. Donald would never let him live this down.

Riku stepped over and carefully lifted him into his arms again. “I swear your tail alone weighs a hundred pounds.”

“It’s a lot of muscle.”

“Sure it is.”

“Why don’t you just use the teleport device from the Gummi Ship to pick him up?” Yuffie asked.

The two islanders looked at each other confused, before Riku looked away with a large sigh. “I didn’t know it could do that.”

“I forgot…” Sora’s face had turned crimson.

“However it works, make it happen. You Guppy.”

“What did he just call Sora?” Leon’s whisper carried across the room.

And then they were suddenly on the ship again.

* * *

“Guys it’s _not_ funny!” Sora protested.

Goofy and Donald were laughing uncontrollably.

“If it was anyone else you would laugh too.” Riku pointed out.

“Is there no way to change it back?” The tail fascinated Kairi. She had yet to experience the changes that certain worlds needed to blend in and seeing the proof of them was incredible.

“The spell Donald gave me certainly didn’t work.” The brunette snapped toward the magician.

“Can I touch it?” Kairi knelt down next to where he was sitting.

“I guess.” He was blushing again as she gently ran her hand along the edge of his caudal fin.

“Alright alright.” Donald made a show of pushing up non-existent sleeves. “Le’ me at ‘em.”

They waited patiently as the Royal Court Magician tried multiple spells to no avail.

“Gawrsh Sora.” Goofy bent down look closer at his face. “You don’t look so well.”

Kairi rested the back of one of her hands on his forehead. “He’s right. You kind of feel like you have a fever.”

“He’s a fish out of water.” Riku realized belatedly. Of course, Sora needed water. It just made sense.

“You think so?”

“I do have the tail.” Sora attempted to joke.

“What about Master Yensid?”

“He’s travelin’ with the King.” Goofy replied.

“So what do we do now?” Sora whimpered, his face was flushed, and he kept scratching at different parts of his fins. 

“Keep trying spells?” Donald suggested.

“No.” Riku stepped in again. “I’m going to find him some water.”

He lifted his friend up again cradling him carefully against his chest, and headed back toward their ship, leaving their friends to contemplate different ways to change him back.

“No… Riku… I don’t wanna live in a fish tank…” He whimpered into his best friend’s shoulder.

“Keep whining and I will just put you in a barrel.”

“Ok. Fish tank is ok.”

Riku smirked as he set Sora on his cot in the Gummi Ship. “You sure changed your mind fast. Besides, you know I wouldn’t do that to you. I have the perfect idea for now.”

“Do I get my own amnemonemomne?”

“That’s really not how you say that word. And sure, as many as you want.”

* * *

“What is this?” Kairi sat next to Riku on the beach.

“Its Sora’s ‘treasure’ collection.”

“You could not have said that more sarcastically.”

“Sorry, it’s just... I’m a bit worried. He’s become like a child. More so than normal Sora behavior. He just splashes around in the ocean all day and collects random crap to pile here on the beach.”

“Sounds fun.”

He just stared at her.

“Alright, its pretty bad.” She admitted. “But Master Yensid is due back any day now. He’ll fix things.”

“Yeah. I guess.”

“Where is he now?”

“He’s collecting coconuts out by the islet. I hate tearing out the adolescent palms every summer. So I suggested that he should go get the seeds now before they start sprouting.”

“That’s a good idea! That never was fun to do…”

“You did it for two minutes five years ago. Sora did it for about ten minutes longer to prove he could stand it longer than you. Then every other time you guys watched as I did it.”

“Hmm… that’s not how I remember it.”

“You two were always so lazy.”

“I don’t remember that either.” She giggled looking intently out at the lapping waves.

“RIIIKU!”

“There he is.”

“LOOK! I GOT A TON OF THEM!” Sora waved excitedly as he emptied his makeshift net of all its contents. Which was mainly waterlogged coconuts.

“Good job Sora. We can have a bonfire tonight with them.”

The brunette pulled himself onto the beach so that his tail was able to swish through the waves, causing small crests to rise up and splash around him.

“And s’mores?”

“Of course.”

“Hey Sora! Could you find more of those shells?” Kairi asked.

“The thalassa shells?”

“Yeah! I wanted to make more of those charms!”

“Sure! Give me like - maybe an hour!” Then he dove back under the water.

“Hey y’all!”

They turned to see Mickey walking up to them.

“Your Majesty!” Kairi waved excitedly.

“Mickey, what are you doing here?”

“Donald told me about Sora’s situation. I came here with a spell to change him back.”

“Thank goodness.” Kairi sighed. “As cute as the tail is, it’s time to move on.”

“It would be nice to have him back.” Riku got to his feet.

Mickey smiled. “Always happy to help.”

“I’ll go get him!” Kairi jumped up heading for the water.

“So you guys went to Atlantica, and for whatever reason Sora couldn’t change back?”

“Yeah.” Riku sighed. “I still can’t figure out why we couldn’t fix it.”

“Did he eat anything while in the world?”

“I’d like to say no… but you know how impulsive he is.”

“It’s not common, but sometimes the food from another world can effect a person’s magic. It’s usually voided out though when using a cure spell, so it doesn’t happen to often.”

“We weren’t fighting so there was no need to use cure. The only magic we used was the transformation spell.”

“That could be it. Sora is a bit impulsive.” The King chuckled.

Riku looked over fondly as Sora pulled himself from the waves again handing the seashells Kairi wanted to her.

“Hey Your Majesty!” Sora waved.

“Gosh Sora, that’s quite the tail you’ve got.”

He laughed and shook out his wet spiky locks. “Yeah, it was weird at first. But I’ve gotten used to it.”

“Well. I came here to change you back.” Mickey smiled.

“Oh? Really?” Sora frowned, suddenly looking hesitant.

“You want to change back don’t you?” Riku raised an eyebrow.

“Of course, I do! But… there was just something I kinda…”

“Kairi, would you mind showing me around the Island a bit?” Mickey turned to her. “I really never got a tour.”

“Of course! Let me just put these in the shack before I show you around.” She nodded leading the King away from the two young men.

Riku waited until they were well out of hearing distance before kneeling down to be closer to Sora’s eye level.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s just that there was this thing I kinda wanted to do – but I never really got around to it. And now it’s too late. I just was thinking… but it’s not really even important I guess.”

“Is it something we can do today?”

“Well yeah.”

“Then let’s do it. What did you want?”

Sora’s face turned several shades redder, Riku almost was worried he had a fever or was sunburnt for a moment.

“Will you go swimming with me?”

Riku knew that couldn’t be it. They go swimming all the time. They just swam together in Atlantica and they swim all the time here on the island. But if that’s what he wanted…

He shucked off his t-shirt tossing it further up the beach before following Sora into the water.

Once they were deep enough that Riku’s feet no longer touched the sandy bottom Sora grabbed his hand and tugged him even farther out, his shark tail pulling them at a much faster speed then Riku could ever swim. They went out far enough that Riku couldn’t see the details of the island beyond the large tree and structures.

“Sora? What are we doing?”

“I wanted to show you something… But you’ll have to hold your breath.”

“You’re just now telling me this?”

“Don’t you trust me?” Sora pouted.

“Of course, I do.”

“Then it’s not a problem!” The sunny smile was back.

“Lead the way then.”

Sora pulled him below the surface. Riku knew instinctively he should be worried that a strong force was pulling him away from the air he needed to breathe. But his complete faith in Sora kept the fear from rising up at all.

The brunette guided him into a dark cavern before pausing in their swim just deep enough inside that the light was mostly obscured by the rocky walls.

Confusion built up. Did Sora not understand that Riku can’t see in the dark? Was that a thing that mer-people had and they never realized it before?

The warm hand that had guided him this far vanished suddenly leaving him in the cool depths.

Slowly light began to glow along the walls. Every color that he could think of began to shine brighter illuminating the dark cavern. In the center of all the lights he could now see Sora running his hands along some seagrass and algae that was growing along the walls. The sight of Sora floating lightly above the colorful plants took the last of his oxygen out of him.

Realizing his limited supply of air was gone he began to turn back to the exit, but was pulled back by Sora.

“Wait. This… this is what I wanted to do.” His voice was soft, slightly distorted by the underwater currents.

If Riku had his voice he would sarcastically ask if Sora was trying to drown him, though he knew that wasn’t the case.

Warm hands ran through Riku’s hair lightly gripping the back of his head. Sora’s lips met his and he felt the air rush into his lungs, but that was not nearly as satisfying as the movement of Sora against him.

His hands were pulling at his hair, his tail had wrapped itself around Riku’s legs, his lips were still on his.

When he pulled back Riku almost forgot that they were underwater. Sora quickly placed a hand over his mouth.

“Got to hold your breath remember?”

That… wasn’t fair.

There were things he wanted to say.

They had never… he’d never even…

This was just like Sora.

To be wonderfully amazing and frustrating at the same time.

The brunette chuckled. “It’s beautiful down, here right?”

Riku grinned, unable to resist the infectious smile being pointed at him.

“Ok, let’s get you back to where the oxygen is.”

As they breached the surface Riku quickly inhaled the salty sea air, before turning Sora back toward him and pulling him in for another kiss.

Below he could feel the powerful shark tail keeping them both afloat in the water. When he pulled back, he saw the blood rushing to Sora’s cheeks. Really? Now he was embarrassed?

“R-Riku… You can’t catch me off guard like that!”

“Like you caught me off guard down there?” He smirked.

“That was different! I was also showing you that awesome cave with the glowing plants!”

“That’s it? That’s all that was?”

Sora grinned. “Well. Maybe there was a little, tiny, itty bit of scheming there.”

“Uh-huh.”

“It’s not like I thought you were going to be mad or anything! It’s just… I got tired of waiting.” Sora pouted.

“Waiting?” Riku asked as they slowly made their way back to the beach.

“Well. Yeah. Obviously, we were going to end up as boyfriends. Even I could see it. But I was waiting for you to do something about it. But then you _didn’t_ and I… didn’t want to wait anymore!”

For a moment Riku wasn’t sure what to say. There was something so reassuring about the way he had said it. He knew they would end up together?

“I guess… I just always hoped we would… but you are nice to everyone. And everyone loves you. I just didn’t want to take away your choices.”

Sora snorted. “Jeez Riku. Yeah, I’m nice to everyone. Or whatever. I have lots of friends. But you’re the only one I always want to be with me. And it’s always been like that. I thought you knew and you were just being slow.”

“I guess you finally beat me at something.”

“Excuse me?! I’ve won at a lot of things!”

“If it helps you sleep at night…” Riku grinned as he stepped onto the warm sand of the beach.

Sora lunged and tackled the silver-haired teen onto his back. “Take that back!”

“No!”

They began to wrestle – which really wasn’t fair when Sora’s tail really was a great advantage for him.

Riku really wasn’t sure when it transitioned from one thing to the next. But it was inevitable. Their playful fight became them exploring each other in the sunlight to kissing on the beach. Like Sora had said before, it felt like it was obvious that this was where they would end up. But it still was a pleasant surprise nevertheless.

“A- _hem”_

They both jerked back slightly at the loud interruption. Looking up they saw Kairi pretending to look irritated, but doing a poor job of hiding her smile. And Mickey was smiling, but politely looking over at the purple flowers growing by the trees.

“If you two have a second,” Kairi laughed. “His Majesty needs to be heading back soon.”

“I guess you guys… did what you wanted?” Mickey asked.

Riku blushed staring pointedly at the horizon.

“Yep! Sure did!” Sora grinned.

With a chuckle the King cast the spell and there was a ‘poof’ of comical animated magic that sometimes resulted in a spell from one of the Disney Castle citizens.

“Yes! I got my legs back!” Sora jumped up and ran in place excitedly as if testing them out again. “Now I can beat Riku at a race across the beach. _Again_. Because I do win.”

Riku smirked. “Big talk for someone who hasn’t had legs for the last couple of days.”

“You sound scared!”

“Fine. You’re on.”

Kairi and Mickey watched as they took off down the beach.

“Gosh… it’s good to see them both so happy. I was worried about them for a bit. Riku especially... With everything going on and all.” The King looked over at Kairi.

“Yeah. It’s been hard. But that’s just Sora and Riku. They’ve always been like that when they’re together. They bring out the best in each other. And when they’re apart they do everything they can to make sure they find each other again. They’ve been like that since the first day I met them. Its sweet.”

“They are strong separately on their worse days, but together they are unstoppable.” Mickey smiled as he saw Riku lift Sora and toss him in the water.

Kairi giggled as Sora retaliated by grabbing Riku’s leg and dragging him into the waves with him. “It’s true. I can’t imagine one without the other.”


End file.
